Safety pros know the risks involved with slippery surfaces and machinery that’s not properly guarded. Here’s a case in which the two combined to create a disabling injury for one employee.

Ashley Taylor was an employee at England-based chocolate maker Thorntons Plc. He was standing on a conveyor belt to cool a piece of machinery that puts filling into chocolates when he slipped on a wet mat.

As he slipped, his hand was thrust inside the machine and into rotating rollers.

Although a trip bar was installed, it wasn’t correctly positioned to protect someone standing on the conveyor.

Taylor’s hand became trapped before a co-worker could stop the machine.

Rescuers had to be called to free him from the machine.

He suffered two broken bones and severe tissue damage in his hand. He hasn’t been able to return to work since.

The Health and Safety Executive has fined the company nearly $17,000 and ordered it to pay another $6,400 in costs for failing to provide a safe system of work.

Tags: disabling injury, machine guard, slippery surfaces